


A Slippery Bunny

by yamsraptor



Series: Zine Works [2]
Category: Tiger & Bunny
Genre: Bromance, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Ice Skating, Kotetsu is a good dad and friend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-09
Updated: 2019-03-09
Packaged: 2019-11-14 14:42:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18054458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yamsraptor/pseuds/yamsraptor
Summary: Kotetsu takes Barnaby out to ice skate. Barnaby isn't a gracious skater at all.





	A Slippery Bunny

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the Bromance Zine!

The ice skating rink was packed with families, couples and children, much to Barnaby’s dismay. None of them were close to professional figure skaters, but the difference in skill between the general public was pretty obvious from a single glance. 

Barnaby takes a sneak peek once, twice - maybe thrice - while he ties his skates in search for a quiet corner, only to find out there isn’t one. He divides the public in three groups inside his head: mischievous kids and teenagers, skating fast and almost colliding in the wall sometimes, adults with small children who are just trying to teach them how to skate, and small friend groups along with young couples who are having a good time going around in circles at a reasonable pace.

Kotetsu put his own skates with ease, obviously familiar with the process and practically beaming as he does so. While Barnaby thought that this man irradiated sunshine and positive energies on a daily basis, today it seemed that he was extra excited. If he were a puppy, Barnaby could swear that his tail would be wagging back and forth enthusiastically. 

It was his idea for them to go skating together, of course; Barnaby would much rather spend the day at home, but this time, it was Kotetsu’s turn to suggest what they should do in their next their day off, which so happened to be today.

Fair enough. It wasn’t like he was suggesting something incredibly dangerous or imprudent. Barnaby just wished for the rink to be either bigger in size or a tad more empty. However, he knows that neither of them has any control in regards to such things; he just needs to accept them like an adult.

“Hey, Bunny, do you need help?” Kotetsu’s voices makes him realize that he was taking too long. At least Barnaby doesn’t feel the need to tell Kotetsu to stop calling him Bunny anymore - in fact, it he ended up growing rather fond of the nickname; the way Kotetsu says it sounds incredibly nice, and he truly appreciates his friend’s gentle concern.

“No, no,” he shakes his head as he replies, making sure to check if the ties on his skates are tight enough. They are and he honestly has no reason to be sitting down. Kotetsu’s already up and ready to go and he’s just waiting for him now. “I think I’m done.”

Kotetsu smiles and offers him a hand. Barnaby holds it, squeezing it as he gets up. His legs tremble a bit, not used to the skates. Even though they’re wearing skate guards, it’s difficult for him to balance himself - actually, just the thought of walking with them on is enough to make him a little more nervous as well.

Barnaby decides to focus on Kotetsu, simply because he’d rather not look around. They’re public figures at this point in their hero career and he’s sure that at least a couple bystanders are looking at him with curiosity as he’s trying not to fall face first on the ground.

“It’s alright, just keep holding my hand.” The other hero notices that he’s insecure - which isn’t surprising, considering the time they’ve spent together after they became a duo. “I’ll go slowly, okay? Trust me, you won’t fall down!”

Barnaby gives him a small nod, his grip on Kotetsu’s hand tightening as well. They walk in slow steps towards the skating rink, and Kotetsu only stops to take off his own skate guards when he’s sure that Barnaby’s able to stand without his help.

After taking them off and stepping on the ice, however, Barnaby finds out that this is even harder than he thought. He ends up having to hold onto the wall as if his life depended on it, while Kotetsu slides off with ease, as if he was simply born with the ability to stand on two ridiculously thin metal blades.

“Come on, Bunny, it’s ok!” Kotetsu twirls around and gets closer to him. “See? It’ll be harder if you keep yourself glued to the wall.”

“I don’t think so,” Barnaby replies. His legs are trembling and he has to use all his strength not to let them slide until he’s sitting on the ice. For him, it’s incredibly awkward and unnatural. “I can barely stand right now.”

Kotetsu can’t help but take pity on him and he gets closer so he could put his hands on Barnaby’s shoulders, prompting him to face forward. The other hero does so and right after Kotetsu gently takes his hands as encouragement for him to stop trying to hold himself to the wall, Barnaby moves his right leg in an attempt to slide forward, only to find himself falling right on top of him.

By the gasps he hears nearby during and after their fall, Barnaby’s completely sure that everyone stopped what they were doing and are now just staring at them. He hides himself on Kotetsu’s chest, mumbling to himself, while the other man simply laughs it off as if nothing happened.

“This is embarrassing…” he finds himself saying that a few seconds before moving away from the fellow hero. It’s embarrassing and Barnaby feels like a really frustrated child; it takes him a lot of self control not to pout at this entire situation. He watches as Kotetsu gets up, thankfully not injured from the fall. Actually, he’s smiling at him and Barnaby isn’t entirely sure if he should be glad or annoyed by his reaction.

“Hey, it’s fine. I used to be much worse than you,” Kotetsu says, leaning down just so he could offer his hand to help him stand up once more. “Let’s try again. Try to make sure you can stand before trying to move around, alright?”

Barnaby nods and holds Kotetsu’s right hand once again. After taking the it, Kotetsu offers his other hand, so Barnaby could repeat the gesture. Once he’s sure that his grip on him is strong enough, Kotetsu raises him up, this time making sure to stick close enough to help him balance himself on the blades.

Right after Barnaby finds himself able to stand up and not fall again, Kotetsu makes a sliding motion, moving himself so he can stand right on Barnaby’s back, holding the other male by his hips.

“Kotetsu, this is getting ridiculous!” Barnaby complains, feeling his cheeks getting warmer. This whole endeavor is just getting more and more embarrassing for him. Kotetsu doesn’t seem to mind, however, and his grip only tightens. 

“No, no, it isn’t!” Kotetsu replies, his tone feeling like that of a stubborn parent. “That’s how I taught Kaede to skate and it worked for her. Look, there are other families teaching their kids too.”

At least that explained why Kotetsu knew how to skate; Barnaby should have realized it sooner. Contrary to what Kotetsu must believe, he doesn’t mind that there are parents doing this with their children - it’s not like he’s in any place to judge them, and at least they’re busy enough not to throw curious glances at them while they’re trying to make this whole ice skating thing work. Still, while Barnaby thinks that this is both a very endearing and dorky gesture from Kotetsu’s part, he isn’t a child at all.

“I know, but the thing is…” Barnaby pauses, trying to find a way to explain what’s going on inside his head without sounding rude to his partner. “I’m an adult.”

He feels a slight movement from Kotetsu’s hands, but it only takes him a few seconds to realize that the man’s only shrugging his shoulders, with no real intention to let him go.

“An adult that’s learning to skate.” As expected as of now, Barnaby’s argument had no effect on Kotetsu, who’s still firmly holding him. He speaks with total assurance, much like a parent trying to convince a child that everything’s going to be okay. “No shame in that, buddy. There are many things you know that I don’t and vice-versa.”

He’s completely right and Barnaby knows it. People are different, and he knows he isn’t the only adult in the entire world that doesn’t know how to ice skate. There’s no reason for them to argue any further at this point - making a scene wouldn’t help them at all.

“Can we at least start moving, please? There’s people looking at us.” However, just because he isn’t making a total scene, it doesn’t change the fact that there’s a good chunk of curious bystanders spying on them; Barnaby’s sure that some of them might be even filming or taking pictures. He wouldn’t be surprised if he found out any footage of this later on video sharing sites and social media.

“Let them look all they want, then,” Kotetsu simply remarks. “Besides, exposing your real identity to public eyes was your idea, not mine.”

Barnaby lets out an irritated puff. He knows there’s no way to win against this specific argument. Kotetsu chuckles, finding his behavior to be completely amusing, but then decides that they’re done fooling around and wasting precious time.

He pulls the other man closer to him. This time, he really hopes they won’t fall again. Barnaby notices the sudden change and falls silent, paying attention to Kotetsu, who waits a few more seconds before speaking again.

“I’ll start, and then you follow me, okay?” “Three, two, one…” Right after that, Kotetsu makes the first move, gently pushing Barnaby on the ice, prompting him to keep up with the slow steps. He’s clumsy at first, almost falling sometimes, but with the other man helping him stand it is in fact much easier to adapt.

Soon enough, Barnaby’s awareness of their surroundings is gone. He can’t truly focus on who’s watching or maybe filming them when he needs to concentrate on not falling on the ice like he did before.

It gets easier with each step. With time, Barnaby’s legs stop trembling and he feels confident enough to stand without feeling like he’s going to fall by the next second. Then, Kotetsu picks up the pace, little by little, and Barnaby starts to do the same, following him. His hair flows with their movements, he can hear and recognize the sound of the blades gliding over the ice, just like the ones he hears when he watches a speed skating or figure skating competition on a sports channel and he has to acknowledge that this is completely satisfying.

Kotetsu lets him go after a while, skating around him so he could stare at him face to face. Even with the surprise, Barnaby’s able to stand up alone. He looks around: nobody’s watching them anymore at this point. Even with the rink being full of people, the only person that’s truly looking at him, eyes glowing with pride at his accomplishment, is Kotetsu.

“See? It’s fun!” Kotetsu beams, twirling around. They both laugh at his antic, and Barnaby feels warm despite the coldness of the rink. “You did it, Bunny!”

Barnaby grins at him and slides forwards, allowing himself to stay by Kotetsu’s side. They hold their hands together and start skating, keeping the same pace as they playfully tease each other.

Perhaps ice skating wasn’t that much of a bad idea as Barnaby first thought.


End file.
